Olfaction
Celebrating Fragrance day
with eclectic creative minds
Can a fragrance define who we are? Is it the greatest gift you can give someone? This year on March 21st, the House of Nina Ricci celebrates its iconic 1948 creation, a symbol of peace, strength, and freedom.
« There is a small miracle in L'Air du Temps that gives it a great character. »
Robert Ricci
Talking of character, we have chosen strong unique personalities to tell its story. Three female artists. Three transmission stories linked to this very special object.
A singer, a visual artist and a painter. They discovered L’Air du Temps through a female figure, their mother or simply an image. The natural, strong affinity they have with the perfume has inspired them to answer our questions. Meeting with Bianca, Marem and Malu for International Fragrance Day.
Malù Dalla Piccola.
Artist
Malù, the artist exploring the body and its fragility. L’Air du Temps reminds her of Italian aunt based in the Roman countryside.
Please introduce yourself to us.
My name is Malù. Malù is short for Maria Ludovica. I grew up between Rome, Moscow, London, and Milan. I began painting in Moscow when I was eight years old. My passion for painting comes from my mother, she used to paint trompes l’oeil and carry out restoration work in houses and churches.
The themes I explore are quite contradictory – like fertility and abortion, the cycle of life and transhumanism, memory and forgetfulness, fragility and violence.
I came to Paris after finishing my studies and I’ve lived here now for nine years.
I do a lot of painting but I prefer to create installations in situ. My last two installations were both in Tuscany: “Amnios”, a Hippocampus Residency project which was conceived as an ensemble of organs that communicates with its participants, and “Ampolle del senno perduto” at the Corsini Orto Botanico, a work composed of 60 bulbs hovering in the botanical gardens. These copper and resin tear shapes hold my oil paints like crystallised memories.
Tell us the very first time you were introduced to L’Air du Temps?
I discovered L'Air du Temps thanks to my aunt “zia Sandra” – she was like a grandmother to me.
Every summer I would spend a month in her house in the Rome countryside.
L’Air du Temps makes me think of her, its scent evokes so many memories for me – just like Proust’s madeleines. She was an unusually elegant woman. L’Air du Temps mixed with her own natural scent would make me feel a sense of calm and serenity.
Its fragrance reminds me of time spent with her, her face powder and the smell of roses that would hang in the air of the rooms in her house.
Is there a particular piece of art that moves you?
Works of art can move me every day and every minute.
I recently discovered the most amazing byzantine mosaics in Ravenna which made a huge impression on me. Last December at MOMA in New York, one work in particular struck me. It is a portrait of Hans and Erica Tietze by Oscar Kokochka. I lost track of time while looking at it and missed an appointment I had later that day.
If you could slow down time in any one moment of your life, when would it be?
As I write these lines I feel a rare sense of well-being and peace. I would like to slow down this moment, but not forever, otherwise how could I appreciate it for what it is?
Bianca Costa.
Bossa Trap artist
Bianca is a Bossa Trap artist. She was offered L’Air du Temps by her mother every year since she was little and never stopped to be inspired about it since then.
Please introduce yourself to us.
My name is Bianca Costa. I was born in Brazil, then I lived in Portugal before ending up in France. I compose, I write and I perform. My music is the fruit of all my travels.
Tell us the very first time you were introduced to L’Air du Temps?
I discovered Nina Ricci on arriving in Paris. I was 11 and my mother gave me some as a Christmas present. It turned into our Christmas tradition. And I haven’t changed fragrance since.
Is there a particular piece of art that moves you?
I am a big fan of Maïra Villena. She is a French-Peruvian artists who paints in vivid colours. She often makes self-portraits at different moments – for example during the various operations she had throughout her youth because of her cleft lip and palate. She is an artist who has inspired me enormously. The vision she has of herself and of her memories are very moving.
If you could slow down time in any one moment of your life, when would it be?
I feel very nostalgic about my childhood in Brazil. Sometimes I wish I could slow down time to be able to make and keep more memories from there. Living with my grandparents, the sun, the afternoons singing with my vovô (Grandad).
Marem Ladson.
Spanish-American singer, songwriter and guitarist
Marem is a Spanish-American singer, songwriter and guitarist. She discovered L’Air du Temps when she was 11.
Tell us the very first time you were introduced to L’Air du Temps?
I think the very first time I was introduced to L'Air du Temps was probably 11 or 12 and I remember it was springtime because I was in the countryside with my grandparents, and I remember being with my grandma collecting flowers and she just smelled so good! I thought it was the flowers but then she told me she was wearing this perfume which she showed me when we got back to the house. The bottle was so very classic but at the same time very unique! I just loved it for that very first moment: this perfume reminds me of the powerful women of my life that can be passed through generations.
Is there a particular piece of art that moves you?
Anything done honesty really touches me.
If you could stretch time on one moment of your life, what would it be?
When I’m sleeping!
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